Getting Involved with the Watershed Champion Program

by Ella Harper, Gills Creek Watershed Association

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
- Dr. Seuss, The Lorax 

When it comes to flooding and clean waterways, it is easy to become overwhelmed and see these issues as being beyond our control. However, there is a lot that can be done right from home. 

Say, you spray some pesticides on your lawn. And then your neighbor does it. And everyone on your street. The next time it rains, all of these chemicals are washed down to the nearest water source, or storm drain that empties directly into our waterways. While spread out, these chemicals and other pollutants may not have much of an impact, but when they all come together and concentrate in our rivers and streams, it can be dangerous for us and the environment. 

The Gills Creek Watershed Association’s Watershed Champion Program is a simple yard certification program that improves water quality and flooding yard by yard. By just taking a few steps right at home, you and your neighbors can make a difference. 

The first step is to know where your water is going. Does it head to a nearby storm drain? Run through your neighbor’s yard? Next time it rains, ask, where does it go? 

The second step is to improve the quality and reduce the quantity of water running through your yard. This could mean having a rain barrel, reducing chemical use on your lawn, incorporating more native plants that can help break down pollutants, picking up litter around your property, installing a rain garden, and more. Each of these actions contribute toward keeping water that runs through your yard clean, and slowing it down so it has time to absorb into the ground before potentially becoming floodwaters during a larger rain event. 

The third step is to enrich the environment of your property. This can include reducing nonnative lawn, leaving the leaves as a natural mulch, having a water source for wildlife such as a bird bath, or even sharing information about Watershed Champions so more can join in!

Supporting biodiversity and native plants supports the entire ecosystem, including the wildlife we love and soil health which helps to break down anything we don’t want in our waterways. 

While individually your impact may feel small, with 55 current Watershed Champions and counting, you would be contributing to a larger movement. The more people that commit to improving water quality and enriching the environment, the bigger a difference we can make. Each native plant we add or rain barrel to capture water or leaf we leave where it is to naturally fertilize our lawns, means a healthier ecosystem overall. 

Please check out the Watershed Champion page using the link below to see what you can do, or may already be doing, that can make a positive impact in your community. 

https://www.gillscreekwatershed.org/Watershed-Champion-Application